Number of times, I have seen on SDN where people is not clear what is the way to make their new ERP system with Enhancement Packages ready to use that includes installation, configuration in solution manager, EHP upgrade, Business Function activation etc.

In my this blog, I am not going to dive deep in technical sea of how to do things but only how to make yourself float on the sea. Once you will float on the sea, rest you will learn how to dive :-)

When you install new ERP 6.0 system with Enhancement Packages either EHP4/EHP5/EHP6, you need to follow certian things to make it ready to use like:

1) Install ERP 6.0 EHP4/EHP5 system. If you install it as EHP5 system then after installation, your system will be on EHP5 in which SAP_APPL and EA-APPL (Central Application Components) will be on EHP5. So, after applying latest patches through SPAM/SAINT, you can use this system.

But in case of ERP 6.0 EHP4 system, this is not the case. When you install EHP4 system, then all netweaver components like Basis, ABAP etc. will be on 701 release but all ERP components will be on 600 release. So, this system is not ready to use. This system is called as ERP6.0 EHP4 Ready.

2) As of SAP Business Suite 7, you need to download all the packages from Solution Manager. So, if you want to upgrade your system or want to install patches then you need to configure MOPZ in solman.

If you want to upgrade your EHP4 Ready system to EHP4 level. Then first define your system in SMSY as Product Version ERP 6.0. Then you need to add your system to logical component, then define solution and assign logical system to solution.

All of this you can do in transaction DSWP and SMSY till solution manager 7.0 EHP1. But from Solution Manager 7.1 you need to use LMDB, solman_setup and solman_workcenter.

After you have defined your system in SMSY, you can download patches from MOPZ.

If you are not using any Technical usage then you can upgrade only Central application Technical usage (Component SAP_APPL & EA-APPL). But if you are using any other technical usage then you need to select that technical usage as well in MOPZ, only then you will get all packages.

If you are not sure which technical usage you need to install on your system. Then Check SAP note 1165438 for EHP4 systems & SAP note 1324838 for EHP5 system and there are guides attached to this note which maps Technical Usage to Component and to business functions.

Note: Please make sure before installing any technical usage, discuss with your functional team whether they need it or not.

In some cases, while you are selecting certian Technical usage type in MOPZ, checkbox against it is greyed out. In that case, you need to mark this Technical Usage as Relevant in SMSY for the system definiton e.g. Self Service (XSS) & LOSFE etc.

For upgrade, stack xml file is mandatory that you can get from MOPZ. But make sure that component information in SMSY for your system that you want to upgrade should be latest Otherwise stack xml file will contain outdated information about the patch level of your system and it can lead to problems during upgrade.

3) In case of EHP4 Ready system, where SAP_APPL and EA-APPL is on 600 release. You need to upgrade it with EHPi only. With this upgrade, you can combine upgrade of any other Technical Usage as well in case you want to use any other technical usage.

If you have upgraded Central Application but later on you want to install any other technical usage then you can upgrade that technical usage with SAINT as well.

But this is not the case in case of EHP5 system as in EHP5 system, Central Application Technical usage (SAP_APPL & EA-APPL) will be on 605 release only. So, if you want to upgrade SAP_APPL & EA-APPL then you can do it through SPAM. And even if you want to upgrade any other technical usage then same you can do it from SAINT as well. You can also use EHPi but it is not mandatory.

Note: If you want to upgrade any Technical usage to EHP4/EHP5 level then stack xml file is mandatory for upgrade whether you upgrade it from SAINT or EHPi.

4) When you want to activate any business function then same you should in accordance to Business needs and after discussing with functional team. You can activate Business function any time and it does not effect existing functionality. However, it is recommended to activate business function first in sandbox/test system and after testing transport it to other systems.

There is one exception in EHP5 systems where version of SAP_HR component is 604 only while for other components version will be 605.

5) If you are using Solution Manager 7.1, then you cannot define any system manually in SMSY as you do in case of Solution Manager 7.0 with EHP1. There you should follow below procedure:

Add you satellite system in SLD of Solution Manager. In case of ABAP system, you can add it to solman SLD with t-code RZ70 but in case of As Java system, either you can make local sld in As Java system only and then configure data bridge to send As Java system information to Solman SLD or configure your As Java system SLD to solution manager as cental SLD.

Once your system in Solman SLD then schedule job to sync LMDB with SLD autmoatically.

Now, run managed system step in solman_setup t-code and configure your system there. Once this is done then you can configure MOPZ.

In case of As Java system, once system will be there in solman SLD, it will come under Technical systems in SMSY, so for As Java system, you have to define Product System manually in SMSY and assign your As Java system to it.

Now, using solman_workcenter t-code, you can go to MOPZ and download patches. Make sure before that you have assigned your system to logical component and logical system in turn to solution.

Hope you will have an idea by now how to proceed in case you install new ERP system to make it ready for use.